


The Violence Causes Silence (We Must Be Mistaken)

by Duck_Life



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Archery, M/M, Post-Squip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 19:43:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11539140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: The world ended, but the voice in Jeremy's head still won't shut up.





	The Violence Causes Silence (We Must Be Mistaken)

**Author's Note:**

> There might someday be more of this, but not necessarily a cohesive narrative, just more of Meremy Hell zombie au. And angst. Lemme know what you think!

The zombie approaches, outstretched arms and gaping maw, yellowing skin peeling around its face like old wallpaper. Jeremy backs toward the door, pistol shaking in his hands. He can do this. He’s downed two of these things before, he can do this now. He aims for the head, his finger on the trigger, ready to fire…

_ Pathetic! This bag of bones has more of a life than you ever had, even before the apocalypse.  _

“Shut up,” Jeremy mumbles to the voice in his head. But he lost his concentration and his aim, and the zombie’s closer now and Jeremy can smell it, death and putrefaction. He gags, aims again. 

_ You’re going to get all your friends killed, you know. Brooke. Rich. Michael. You’re so terrible.  _

“Stop it,” he says, his heart pounding. The zombie’s too close now, its fingernails clawing, trying to scratch at him, and fear takes over Jeremy’s whole body and he can’t do it, can’t squeeze the trigger, and the ghost of the Squip cackles in his ear. 

_ Thwick.  _

An arrow pierces the air and embeds itself in the zombie’s skull. The monster falls, immobile. Jeremy glances across the empty shop (he thinks it used to be an AT&T store) at his savior-- Jake. 

“Hey, man,” Jake says, bow in hand. “You alright? You froze up there.”

Jeremy gulps for breath, taking a glance around to be sure the coast is clear before he holsters his gun. “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he lies, stepping over the corpse on the ground. “I’m fine. Let’s keep looking for supplies in the next building over.”

* * *

 

That evening, they’re all clustered behind the concessions stand in the boarded up movie theater, passing around a bag of Skittles from the box Christine had uncovered. “That group I ran into a few days ago, they were heading up north,” Rich says, sketching patterns in the dust on the floor. “Supposed to be, when the ground freezes over, so do the dead ones. Might be safer.” 

“I’m up for moving north,” Chloe says, hugging her knees to her chest. “Honestly, the further we get from the high school, the better I feel.”

“But that would be true even without the zombies,” Brooke points out, and they all laugh weakly. 

_ Jeremy… _

He tunes out the voice, taking a green Skittle and passing the bag to Michael. Jeremy has more important things to focus on, zombies and scavenging for food and finding weapons. 

_ Jeremy, you can’t ever get rid of me… All your friends will die and I’ll still be here… _

No, no. He doesn’t need to listen to it, he doesn’t need to think about it. Jeremy tries to listen to what Rich is saying but it all blurs together, he’s too hot and he can’t breathe. 

_ Jeremy… _

“Jeremy.” Jeremy jumps when he feels the (very real) hand on his arm and Michael saying his name. “Jeremy, hey.”

“Wha…?” Jeremy mumbles, glancing up. The group must’ve settled down into their nighttime routine a few minutes ago, and he’s just been staring into space. “Sorry.” 

“C’mere,” Michael says, pushing himself up and offering Jeremy a hand to help him stand. They walk into the adjoining room with the ice machine, which they mainly use to store weapons and ammunition. “Jake told me about what happened today while you were out looking for supplies.” 

Jeremy falters, looking down at his feet. “It wasn’t a big deal,” he says to the floor.

“Hey, look at me.” Michael puts a hand under Jeremy’s chin and nudges him upward, staring into his face. “You’re still hearing it, right? The Squip?” 

It’s such bullshit. When the world ended, everything else should’ve ended along with it, but no, Jeremy’s still gotta put up with his junior year trauma. He’s still gotta listen to the nagging, condescending imitation Keanu Reeves voice in his head telling him he’d be better off undead. 

“Jeremy,” Michael says, jerking him out of his thoughts.

“I… yes,” Jeremy says, deciding against lying to Michael. “Yeah, I still hear it, but it’s fine. I’ve got a handle on it.” 

“No, you don’t,” Michael says. “Jake told me he had to save your ass today.” 

“It’s fine,” Jeremy repeats. 

“Cut the shit, Jeremy,” Michael says harshly, staring at him. “I know you’ve got your bullshit self-deprecating whatever going on, but listen, I’m not asking for you. I’m asking for Christine, and Brooke, and everyone else out there. You get that? If we’re gonna stay alive, we all need to work together and that means being  _ honest _ . You wanna get yourself killed, fine.” Jeremy winces and Michael looks like he regrets his choice of words. “But… but you have to let me know when you’re hearing stuff that’s not real.”

“I just don’t want everyone to think I’m c-crazy.” 

Michael looks at him sadly. “It’s the end of the world, Jere. We’re all crazy.” He looks like he’s winding down from hounding Jeremy about his responsibility to the group. His hand comes back under Jeremy’s chin, this time like he’s checking for bruises and scrapes. “Okay, now I  _ am _ asking for you. You alright?”

Jeremy shrugs, enjoying the warm feeling of Michael’s hand on his skin. “No,” he says honestly. “I hear it. All the time. Sometimes it makes me feel even worse than when we’re staring down a whole horde of…” He trails off, eyes unfocused. 

_ You are so terrible. Michael hates you, you ugly, useless piece of human garbage. _

“What’s it saying right now?” Michael whispers, like he doesn’t want to alert the Squip to his presence.

Jeremy swallows, trying not to betray the tears flooding his eyes. “That… I’m terrible. And useless.” He doesn’t mention what the Squip says about Michael. 

“It’s wrong,” Michael says, tugging him forward into a tight hug. “You are so,  _ so _ amazing. I couldn’t do this without you, Jere. Every day I wake up and I think, this might be hell, but at least Jeremy’s here with me.” 

“Really?” 

“Really really,” Michael says, rubbing circles into his back. “We’ll beat it all, Jeremy. I promise you. The Squip, the zombies… we’re still together and we’re still fighting.”

“Yeah,” Jeremy says, feeling so incredibly safe in Michael’s arms. “Can… can you sleep next to me tonight?” 

“Absolutely,” Michael says, taking his hand as they head back to join the others. “I was gonna ask you the same thing.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Read everglow's Apocalypse of the Damned series, it's awesome!!


End file.
